Chris Whitley: Kick the Stones Letterman July 17, 1991 [Video corrupted: See Note]

Описание: NOTE: Another old video has lost its video content. To view my re-upload in .MOV at HD, please visit    • Chris Whitley:  Kick the Stones Letterman ...  


Chris Whitley's first appearance on US network TV. Unfortunately, he had no band at that time, so he had to play with [shudder] Paul Schafer and the house band.

My Bad 2024-05-03: Over the decade since I first posted this video, several commenters have dinged my negative comments re Paul Shaffer (I even got his last name wrong) and the house band. Turns out the man himself - that is, Chris Whitley - might have dinged me as well!

A member of our All Things Chris Whitley FB group and friend of Chris since his early 80s days in NYC WENT WITH CHRIS TO THAT LETTERMAN GIG [!!!!!!!!!!] and shared her memories of that adventure with the ATCW group:

"As I recall Chris was very EXTREMELY HAPPY with the results of the rehearsal & the show for this. I remember it quite well, I was there. .... One more thing to say about this set, the instant mutual admiration society between Chris and the band members who accompanied him was immediate, honest & heartfelt. They did everything they possibly could & then some to get everything just the way Chris wanted it right down to Paul playing the harp. And don’t forget we are talking, aside from Paul Shaffer, Sid [McGinnis] on guitar, Will Lee on bass and freaking Anton Fig on drums. It just doesn’t get much better than that in my book. Many many other artists with phenomenal touring bands opted to play with Letterman’s band back in the day."

Side Note: She also recalls that Chris was much less pleased with his appearance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (   • Chris Whitley Poison Girl on the Tonight Show   ): "[Chris] was pretty unhappy with that even tho his own band backed him on that one, something was very wrong with the sound."